Biography
Theo Noschwitz was born April 27, 1913, in Berlin, and started an apprenticeship at the Afifa film laboratory in Berlin in 1930. From 1931 on, he worked for Universum Film AG (Ufa) for elaborate and prestigious productions like "Der Kongress tanzt" ("Congress Dances", 1931), "F.P.1 antwortet nicht" ("F.P.1 Doesn’t Respond", 1932), or "Gold" (1934) in the department of special effects- During World War II, he worked as a war correspondent but was recalled for two propaganda films by director Karl Ritter. "Stukas" and "Besatzung Dora" ("The Crew of the Dora") were both finished in 1942/43. In 1942, Nischwitz also worked in the special effects team of Ufa’s jubilee production "Münchhausen" ("The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen").
In 1949, Nischwitz became the head of the special effects department of Bavaria in Munich. During the following years, he was in charge of special effects for a broad scope of films, including Helmut Käutner’s films "Der Apfel ist ab" ("The Original Sin", 1948) and "Königskinder" ("Royal Children", 1949), Harald Braun’s "Nachtwache" (1949), Josef von Baky’s "Das doppelte Lottchen" ("Two Times Lotte", 1950), Rudolf Jugert’s "Nachts auf den Straßen" ("Detour", 1951), Rolf Hansen’s "Sauerbruch – das war mein Leben" (1953/54), "Die Nackte und der Satan" ("The Head", 1959) by Victor Trivas, Frank Wisbar’s film "Nacht fiel über Gotenhafen" ("Darkness Fell on Gotenhafen", 1959), Bernhard Wicki’s "Das Wunder des Malachias" ("Miracle of Malachias", 1960), and Harald Reinl’s "Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel" ("The Blood Demon", 1967).
From 1963 on, Nischwitz mainly worked for TV productions and drew a lot of attention for his special effects for the TV series "Raumpatrouille" ("Space Patrol", 1966) – together with the architects Rolf Zehetbauer and Götz Weidner. In the early 1970s, he returned to the film business and participated in the films "Ludwig – Requiem für eine jungfräulichen König" ("Ludwig – Requiem for a Virgin King", 1972), "Karl May" (1974), and "Hitler – ein Film aus Deutschland" ("Hitler – A Film from Germany", 1977) by Hans Jürgen Syberberg. During this period of time, he also collaborated with Wim Wenders for "Der amerikanische Freund" ("The American Friend", 1976/77) and with Billy Wilder for "Fedora" (1978).
After "Das Boot" ("The Boat"), Nischwitz was involved in the films "Der Zauberberg" ("The Magic Mountain", 1981), "Die Schaukel" ("The Swing", 1983), "Didi und die Rache der Enterbten" ("Nonstop Trouble with the Family", 1984), "Otto – der Film" (1985), "Ödipussi" (1987), and "Erfolg" ("Success", 1990). Theo Nischwitz’s last assignment, Roland Emmerich’s film "Moon 44", was also produced in 1990. Four years later, on July 14, 1994, Nischwitz died in Grünwald near Munich.